Palhares thread anyone?

Lots been said about Rousimar Palhares recently – got some wickedly good coverage of it on MMAJunkie.

Ben Fowlkes is critical

I can only think of two possible explanations for why Palhares keeps doing this. One is that it's all part of a strategy. He thinks the way to make people tap quicker than they really need to is to instill in them a fear that, no matter when they submit, he'll keep cranking the hold for another few seconds anyway. It's a mental game he's playing, purposefully crafting a reputation for cranking submissions in order to make opponents fear the madman Rousimar Palhares.

Possible explanation No. 2 is less complicated: Palhares is just a dirtbag. He lacks empathy and respect for his fellow fighters. He's a bad person who refuses to learn from his past mistakes, and he wants to make sure we all know it.

What Rousimar did was wrong. But what Renato "Babalu" Sobral did was also wrong, when he had a choke on David Heath and did not let it go. And although "Babalu" did get cut from the UFC, he was not turned into a monster. Rousimar does not do this on purpose. He does it subconsciously. But he will have learned his lesson, and he will fight with his head on, and he will beat everyone put in front of him – maybe in a nicer way! And when this happens, I will remind the world of all of this: There are many truths in this situation. Rousimar has been turned from a transgressor to a victim of public opinion and people's ignorance.

The truth is, I can't say why Palhares does this any more than Davis can. Maybe it's intentional and maybe it isn't. But if we're to believe that it's out of Palhares' control, that he can't quite stop himself once he's in the cage, I'm not sure that's a great argument in his favor. I am sure that it's not a sufficient excuse. A fighter who can't control himself isn't a victim – he's a problem. And until Palhares gets his problem sorted out, he shouldn't be fighting anyone, anywhere.

Its not the 1st time he has pulled a stunt like this, heel hooks can be career threatening at the best of times without it being applied for any longer than it should be, correct decision for me. Not sure of he is just crazy or he is intentionally trying to hurt people tho.

Im gona come at you like a SPIDERMONKEY.....you hear that a SPIDERMONKEY

He's been acting like a dick pulling those moves, cannot excuse his actions especially in the recent fight, fecking ref lying on him and he still torqued it for good measure, too bad, so sad, bye bye I say!

Shame in one regard as he is a decent fighter though a gatekeeper at best in fairness.

He reminds me of one of those mafia types: He thinks as long as he prays and blesses God he can be the meanest guy on the planet and do anything he wants, hurt anyone he wants, whilst constantly being forgiven by God. Crazy....

I'm torn. His flagrant disregard for the rules and his opponents safety, meant he had to go, but something deep in the reptilian part of my brain always enjoyed the implicit threat of serious harm that he brought to the table.

DW I mean, if you ever watch a UFC event, the camaraderie, the sportsmanship is amazing in this sport. You know, we had an incident with a guy named Paul Daley from England, who hit somebody after the fight was over. The fight was over and everybody was in the corner waiting for the decision and he went over and hit the guy. We cut him. He'll never fight in the UFC ever again.

This is the second incident we've had with Palhares, where he had the lock and he didn't let it go. Finally he let it go, but yeah, I'm going to cut him, too.